Bus firm refusing to use stop at Southend Hospital after ‘decade of congestion’

Arriva says it will not use one of two stops outside the hospital during peak times because of lengthy queues of cars trying to get into the car park.

Queues - outside Southend Hospital

Some drivers are said to have been boxed in for up to 20 minutes by inconsiderate drivers.

Stephen Aylen, independent councillor for Belfairs ward and a former member of the council’s public transport and bus working party said: “This has been a problem for the last ten years. People are queueing up to park and trapping buses.

“I know of one that was trapped for 20 minutes. You can’t run a bus service like that. There needs to be some drastic action taken. People also need to get safely on and off buses.”

Colin Wright, Arriva general manager for the Southend depot said: “We can confirm that the 7 and 8 services towards Hockley and Rayleigh from Southend Hospital will use stop A rather than stop D between 9am to 11.30am and 1.30pm-3.30pm Monday to Friday.

“These changes, which have been implemented following consultation with Southend Hospital and Southend Council, are in the interest of passenger safety, as bus stop D is often blocked by vehicles trying to access the hospital car park. These changes will be in place until further notice and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our passengers.”

Eamon Malone, chief estates and facilities officer, at Southend Hospital said: “Southend Council has brought to our attention that queues are now impeding the flow of public transport along Prittlewell Chase.

“We are asking patients, visitors and colleagues, and also friends and family who use the hospital, that if they come to the hospital by car and find themselves in a queue to enter the tower block car park, please keep the marked bus stops clear.”

A Southend Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of issues created by queueing vehicles and we are working with Southend Hospital and bus operators to try and resolve the issue.”